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Feeling good when everything is going your way is easy. But what about when the s**t is hitting the fan, you feel like you have no control and nothing is going your way?

You can choose to throw your hands in the air, be a victim and forever proclaim the world to be a bad place, out to get people.

OR you can choose to ask what lessons the Universe is sending your way. What lessons have you missed in past experiences that the Universe is now slamming you over the head with? What lessons do you need to learn?

The principles below can be applied to all of life’s challenges – facing divorce, job loss, major financial difficulties, loss of a close family member and so on.

1. You’re not a victim. Take responsibility for your life.

If “these things” keep happening to you or you keep attracting the same kind of negative people, stop being the kind of person that attracts those kinds of people and circumstances.

Find people who seem to be immune to these things, spend time with them, study them. Emulate them.

Take responsibility for your part in the situation. This does not mean being the martyr and assuming responsibility for everything. You’re only taking responsibility for your actions.

2. You can’t control other people or your environment. Stop trying to control.

If other people let you down or don’t do what you expect of them, ask if your expectations are realistic. If you were the other person, would you appreciate someone writing a script for you and getting mad when you don’t follow it?

The only thing you can control 100% is you – your thoughts, feelings and actions. Focus on that and let the rest go.

You can’t control the results or outcome. You can only do your best and let the Universe handle the rest.

3. Find the joy in the journey.

What’s great about what’s happening?

What are you learning?

How are you better because of what happened?

4. Smile – even when, or especially when, things aren’t going how you would like.

Whenever I’m feeling down, the first thing I do is smile a great, big smile for thirty seconds. It’s hard to feel bad when you’re smiling. If it only helps a little, rinse and repeat as often as it takes.

If you’re doing something that seems difficult (mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually), smile and relax your jaw. The task will become much easier.

5. Don’t take anything personally.

Whatever people say and do is all about them. They’re trying to satisfy their own agenda.

If they’re upset with you, it’s because you’re not following the script they wrote for you (and forgot to tell you about).

If they blame things on you, it’s because they’re not willing to take responsibility for themselves.

If they can’t accept you as you are, it’s because of their own limiting beliefs.

6. Decide to be happy, no matter what.

This doesn’t mean that you should be blissfully happy all the time. How boring.

You need up’s and down’s to keep life exciting. Without challenges, how would you learn and grow? Without negatives, the positives wouldn’t feel as good.

Your attitude toward life has everything to do with your feelings about life. If you have a positive attitude that things will eventually work out for the best and you act on that belief, you can feel good about the situation.

You can choose to be happy, regardless of what’s happening around you.

Putting Principles into Practice

I realize that these principles are simple but not always easy to implement. They take practice.

In order to fully implement them in your life in a way that results in more happiness, you’ll need to become more mindful, more aware of what’s happening in the moment, without reacting according to your old scripts.

You’ll need to pause in the midst of chaos to take a deep breath and become aware of those old scripts and consciously change them. At first this might mean simply doing nothing – not reacting, being silent, reflecting in the moment. With practice, you’ll develop alternative responses. Sometimes these will help and sometimes they won’t. Learn from the experience and continue to experiment.

There will never be a point where you’ll always know the perfect thing to say or do that will quickly lead to bliss. There will always be too many new variables with which you’ll contend.

But, with practice, the process of resolving issues and moving away from chaos will become easier. These principles will guide the way.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Women are drinking more than ever before, have you noticed that? Having that extra glass of wine has become pretty mainstream. The stresses that women are faced with today, have us looking for ways to unwind. But is alcohol consumption the answer?

Barbara Hannah Grufferman, an advocate for women over 50, did a very interesting article in the Huffington Post about this. She interviewed Dr. Mark Edison–a psychologist in private practice in NYC who specializes in substance and alcohol abuse. She wanted to know how to know if it’s become a problem, and if it is, whether we have to give it up . . . forever.

We’ve all read the studies: moderate alcohol consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle for many people. Men who have two drinks a day and women who have one are less prone to heart disease, diabetes, gallstones, arthritis and even Alzheimer’s.

Drinking is on the rise in people over 50 and seems to climb as we get older. Some studies cite retirement, loss of job, divorce and death or declining health of a loved one as just a few of the reasons why. In 2010, 16 percent of people over 65 had a daily drink, compared to 10 percent of 45 to 64 year olds and 2 percent of 16 to 24 year olds. And gender is a factor: women between 45 and 64 drink more than any other age group.

But not all daily drinkers have a drinking problem, and not all problem drinkers drink daily. Even if it’s been 30 years since you felt tipsy, you could be one of the 17.6 million Americans with alcohol dependence. This can manifest as a preoccupation with drinking, changing plans to facilitate it or concealment of habits. If this sounds like you, it might be time to address your relationship with alcohol.

To read Barbara’s Huffington Post interview with Dr. Mark Edison click here. He has ways to know if you do have a drinking problem and how to get some help if you do.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

MDMA or its nickname, Molly is the newest thrill and apparently considered ‘more respectable’ than other hard party drugs.. Sign of the times isn’t it? Pop a pill and feel better don’t try and figure out the root of the problem.

Known for inducing feelings of euphoria, warmth and diminished anxiety, 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine has been embraced by everyone from Wall Street traders to Williamsburg hipsters – a trend of great concern to medical professionals.

A recent NY Times feature examining the growing acceptance of Molly on New York’s party scene found most users considered the drug a healthier alternative to other stimulants.

Cocaine is believed to be ‘sort of grimy and passé’ and makes your nose ‘raw’, while marijuana ‘smells.. and is also sort of low rent and junior high’.

Robert Glatter, an emergency-room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side, said more users are being hospitalized than ever before.

He said he sees about four patients a month exhibiting its common side effects, such as teeth grinding, dehydration, anxiety, insomnia, fever and loss of appetite.

The drug in pill, powder or crystalline form costs between $20 and $50 a hit.

‘Typically in the past we’d see rave kids, but now we’re seeing more people into their 30s and 40s experimenting with it,’ Dr. Glatter told NY Times.

Madonna was slammed for asking the audience about Molly during a music festival, while Rick Ross, was dropped by sponsor Reebok for rapping about the drug

Dr. John Halpern, a psychiatrist at Harvard said a major concern is that many of the powders sold as Molly contain no MDMA whatsoever. Medical professionals warn MDMA’s is getting less ‘pure’ as its popularity rises

Despite promises of greater purity and potency, Molly is now thought to be as contaminated as Ecstasy once was..

‘As we move more and more electronic, people are extremely hungry for the opposite: human interaction on a deeper level where you’re not rushing around,’ Mr. Doblin told NY Times.

‘The rise of Molly is in tune with how people are feeling emotionally.’

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Anti-aging claims are everywhere. From supplements to creams to cosmetic surgery it’s hard to know what really works and what doesn’t.

One of the options available is “cell therapy”. It’s been around for years in different forms but only recently has it become FDA approved as a dietary supplement.

Replacing aging cells with fresh embryonic cells helps to delay many symptoms of aging we all encounter. These includes an improvement in your complexion, vitality, muscle strength, sex drive and overall energy levels.

Animal mothers who are chosen donors are pigs because pig cells are closest to human cells. The chosen ones are only raised on organic pig farms. The cells when harvested are processed in the embryonic state and then stored in a sterile bottle and refrigerated. They are not frozen because freezing changes the molecules. All bottles are then labelled according to FDA supplement requirements.

Consider embryonic cell therapy if you are experiencing

bone loss

blood sugar disorders

aging skin

failing eyesight

muscular weakness

lack of energy

memory loss

Under the care of a knowledgeable practitioner, patients have seen remarkable results.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

We are all aging and that’s something we can do nothing about. But, what we do have control over is how we age.

Aging youthfully is our choice. In fact, lifestyle choices account for 33 percent of how old a woman looks. Living an unhealthy lifestyle can age a woman’s skin by over ten years, an in-depth international study has just revealed.

The true damage caused by sun beds, smoking, not moisturizing your skin, and not eating enough fruit can accelerate the aging process – not by a little but by a lot.

Dr. Andrew Mayes, who led the study for Simple skin care, said: ‘We already knew genetics accounted for about 50 per cent of how old people look, but we didn’t know how much would be accounted for by their lifestyles.

‘Even we were surprised by just how much it was; both in terms of the number of years and the percentage.’

The study which was carried out over the last eight years involved women aged 45 to 75 in the UK, Spain and China.

Those who took part were asked a string of questions about their lifestyles including whether or not they liked to sun tan and if they were smokers or non-smokers.

Other questions included how often the women used moisturizer, whether they eat fruit and vegetables, how often they brush their teeth and if they have all their own teeth.

The research team also took digital images of the women which were then assessed for how old they looked to identify their perceived age and whether they looked younger or older than their actual age.

When they got their data the research team compared the perceived ages of those with good versus bad lifestyles.

They concluded the difference was 10.4 years. Dr. Mayes said, “The number of years’ difference was most staggering. We had just seen some data out of a group of plastic surgeons in the US and Canada suggesting that a face and neck lift (together with eyelid and forehead modifications) could take an average of about 8.5 years off your facial age.

‘Then we got our data through demonstrating a saving of over 10 years. It’s fair to say at first we couldn’t quite believe it”.

‘Simply put; good skin health is about more than fancy creams and lotions – it’s about how we live our lives and how we treat our bodies and the steps we need to take do not need to be extreme.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

You hear it all the time – slather on the sunscreen before you leave the house. You might be delusional and think you are immune to the sun’s harmful rays, but skin cancer is very real. And, using sunscreen is very beneficial for another reason near and dear to most women. It keeps us looking younger. Now it has been proven sunscreen stops wrinkles dead in their tracks.

A new Australian study has found the daily use of sunscreen significantly slows the aging of skin caused by the sun’s ultraviolet rays..

‘This has been one of those beauty tips you often hear quoted, but for the first time we can back it with science,’ Queensland Institute of Medical Research senior scientist and lead author of the trial Adele Green said.

The study found that adults who regularly applied broad spectrum sunscreen – which protects against both ultraviolet B and ultraviolet A rays – over a four-and-a-half year period had no detectable aging of the skin.

They also had 24 per cent less skin aging than people who used sunscreen less frequently, according to study.

The randomized, controlled trial, published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, is the first study of its kind. Previously, the only scientific evidence for the beneficial effects of sun screen on wrinkling was in hairless mice.

The researchers randomly assigned 903 adults, ages 25-55, to use SPF15+ every day on their face, arms and hands with frequent reapplication or to use sunscreen at their discretion.

Silicone impressions, or molds, were taken from the backs of all participants’ hands at the start and end of the trial to grade the damage over the four-and-a-half years of the study.

The adults were all aged under 55 to ensure the changes noted were primarily due to photo-aging rather than chronological aging.

The researchers found those using daily sunscreen were 24 per cent less likely to show increased wrinkling over the period.

Regardless of sex, age, skin color, occupation, skin cancer history, weight and smoking, everyone benefited from daily sunscreen use. ‘And the study has shown that up to middle age, it’s not too late to make a difference,’ Green said.

Any sunscreen stronger than SPF15+ might have had only a marginal additional effect, according to Green as SPF15+ blocks about 94 percent of ultraviolet B rays, which are responsible for sunburn, while one with an SPF of 40 filters about 97.5 percent.

And don’t forget this important warning.Apply sunscreen well and reapply often.

Previous research suggested that sunscreen could lull sun-worshipers into a false sense of safety, and see them staying out longer in the sun.

‘The sunscreen has to be applied thick enough and in all areas to be effective,’ Dr. Thomas Ruenger, a professor of dermatology at Boston University, told NBC News.

Ruenger recommends using a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 20 or 30 and reapplying every two hours and after sweating or bathing.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Did you ever meet a woman who was satisfied with her body? I haven’t. You think you are too big here, too small there, and whatever you do to look better – it’s never enough.

But, how deep do these insecurities really lie and how much do they affect our day-to-day lives?

Dr. Bijal Chheda-Varma, a psychologist specializing in body image at London’s Capio Nightingale Hospital, decided to find out using the silhouette test. She says: ‘The silhouette test is widely used among psychologists because it’s a very simple way to determine how unhappy a woman is with her shape’.

The women involved in the test were asked to identify the size they think they are from a range of body shapes, ranked from one to nine (with one being very underweight and nine very overweight).

Next, they were asked to pick the size they’d like to be.

The difference between the two numbers is their body dissatisfaction score and, with a little computer trickery, they were shown how they see their bodies compared to reality.

‘Basically, the bigger the gap between the shape a woman thinks she is and the shape she’d like to be, the more upset she is about her body. Most women tend to have a distorted view.

‘While men tend to be more accurate, the average woman is likely to pick a shape one or two points from reality.

According to Dr Chheda-Varma, body dissatisfaction in women is on the rise.

She says: ‘I’m seeing a growing number who do not have eating disorders, but even so they have increasing body dissatisfaction scores.

‘They often come to me for different reasons, like depression and anxiety, and it emerges that body image and food consumption are underlying factors.

‘From what these women tell me, it’s clear how the high standards they are setting themselves and how anxious the pressure to be perfect can make women feel.’

Ladies, what we do to ourselves is criminal. You have to ask yourself why are you so hard on yourself?

. The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says, ”there’s no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.